South Korean ex-leader Yoon faces longer jail term

A South Korean appellate court increased the sentence of former president Yoon Suk-yeol for obstruction of justice and other charges related to his 2024 martial law declaration to seven years.

The punishment, two years more than the first ruling, was handed down by the Seoul High Court in a live broadcast on Wednesday.

Yoon was sentenced on Jan 16 to five years in prison for abusing the presidential security service to hinder the Corruption Investigation Office for High-Ranking Officials, or CIO, from executing its arrest warrant in January 2025.

"The degree of illegality is severe," said Judge Yoon Sung-sik of Seoul High Court Criminal Division 1 when delivering the ruling.

The former president decreed emergency martial law on the night of Dec 3, 2024, before the National Assembly revoked it hours later. He was impeached and officially removed from office in April 2025.

Several charges that were ruled "not guilty" in the first trial were overturned in the latest ruling.

However, the court dismissed the prosecution's appeal regarding the "uttering of forged public documents" and maintained the not-guilty verdict.

The special counsel team had sought a 10-year prison term for Yoon.

"The court simply followed the lower court's decision, thereby creating new legal principles that completely contradict existing Supreme Court precedents," Yoo Jung-hwa, an attorney for Yoon, told reporters.

Expressing profound disappointment, she said the team will file an appeal in the Supreme Court.

Noting that the appellate court overturned two previously acquitted charges, Seoul-based attorney Kim Gwang-sam told local news broadcaster YTN that the seven-year sentence includes both improperly gathering ministers for a Cabinet meeting when they could not attend and making false public announcements.

The court also criticized Yoon Suk-yeol for using his influence over the Presidential Security Service to block the execution of arrest warrants, directly contravening the rule of law.

As the Seoul High Court now has two dedicated insurrection divisions, Kim said this could ensure faster, more consistent proceedings compared to the first trial, which caused public confusion.

The verdict is the first since the establishment of the dedicated insurrection divisions at the Seoul High Court in February.

Two divisions at the court were designated to handle insurrection cases related to Yoon's martial law declaration after the National Assembly passed an insurrection tribunal law last December.

Yoon filed a constitutional petition on March 31 to challenge the new law, arguing that it violates the rights to a fair trial and equality, according to Yonhap News Agency.

He said it imposes disadvantageous procedures that are significantly different from standard criminal procedures.

Separately, on Tuesday, the Seoul High Court increased the sentence for former first lady Kim Keon-hee to four years in jail.

The sentence was more than double the 20-month sentence in the first trial after the appeals court overturned the acquittal on stock price manipulation and upheld the guilty verdict on bribery charges.

Immediately expressing the intent to appeal to the Supreme Court, Kim's legal team said they respected the court's ruling but emphasized that the law should be applied equally to both those in power and those who have lost it.

kelly@chinadailyapac.com